Eric Schmidt says it would have been better if Apple stayed with Google.

Here's some bad news for the haters of iOS 6's new Maps: there is no Google equivalent waiting in the wings. Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt confirmed on Tuesday that his company has not submitted a mapping app of its own to Apple's App Store, though he didn't entirely rule out the idea.

"We have not done anything yet," Schmidt said in reference to a rumored Google Maps application for iOS, according to Reuters. "We think it would have been better if [Apple] had kept ours. But what do I know? What were we going to do, force them not to change their mind? It's their call."

Schmidt went on to say that Google is still open to partnering with Apple—"We welcome that"—but that Apple will ultimately do what it wants. He also pointed out that Google's own offerings through Android have performed well, implying that dissatisfied iOS 6 users might consider making the switch. "Apple is the exception, and the Android system is the common model, which is why our market share is so much higher," Schmidt said.

Apple recently promised its Maps app would continue to be improved over time, but some users remain dissatisfied with that aspect of the company's break-up with Google. In addition to some phantom locations and strange driving directions, urban users are displeased with the absence of built-in transit directions, though third-party developers have already begun to step up in order to fill the gaps in transit.

Jacqui Cheng
Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social networking, privacy, and more. Emailjacqui@arstechnica.com//Twitter@eJacqui

207 Reader Comments

If you want an app to front-end that for you, then install Google's 'Google+ Travel' app. Use it to search then it will switch to Google Maps on the web, which in many ways, is much much better than the Google Maps app anyway.

I have no idea what kind of negotiations went on behind the scenes but my company pays to use Google maps and driving directions on our website and we've been able to negotiate a 40% discount the past 2 years.

...(unimportant details)...

I was mostly replying to the idea of Google refusing to negotiate. If a small company like ours can negotiate, Apple most certainly could have also.

It is too bad you have ignored the important details in my post.

What your small comapny and other companies have been able to negotiate from Google is something that Apple is no longer interested in, only directions and maps.

Apple still has months on their contract with Google for Maps. But Apple no longer wants to offer the old iOS/Apple/Google Maps.

Why? Because as I told you, the old iOS/Google Map app did not have turn by turn directions using GPS. Apple needed to add that turn by turn feature.

Mossy wrote:

Everybody has a price ...

Not true. The saying NOT FOR SALE applies here.- For instance, as Microsoft got more powerful and built their monopolies with Windows or Office, MS was not going to allow Windows or Office clones for any price.

Google has a very good map program with the turn by turn feature on Android. Google is not going to offer that feature on iOS or Windows Phone.

Mossy wrote:

and what this has proved is the correct price is somewhere in between what Google wanted (whether openly stated $$ or dropping of Android lawsuits) and what Apple paid (whether licensing, programmers or feet on the ground) for their alternative database.

Thanks for the speculation. I can do that too.

Google is building a phone OS monopoly (68% worldwide marketshare). Google does not need to give anyone the turn by turn feature using Google Maps. It will remain an exclusive on Android.

I must admit this thread is "interesting" in the levels of hate between the "isheep" and "andrudes" (or whatever the latter group calls itself).

As someone who has owned an iPhone and dumped it, and owns Android devices, all I am interested in is competition making better devices - not Motorola suing Apple suing Samsung suing Microsoft suing everyone... (okay, maybe I'm not sure about the last couple of steps in the chain).

Innovate, don't litigate - and once you do that, sell your product to whichever sucker will buy it - I want my Windows Surface, stet!

Let's say Apple offered 50 billion dollars to license the Google map data with all the bells and whistles. I'm fairly confident Google would have accepted as Google shareholders would have fired everybody for refusing that deal.

You might say 50B is just crazy. So what? "Everybody has a price" is a binary statement. There either is one or there isn't. Once, you have that one example of a sure price for the seller, you can find a sloping line down towards what the buyer is willing to pay. (45B=yes, 40B=yes, 35B=yes ... current price=no) If those 2 lines don't meet, the buyer can use the money not spent on alternatives.

bb-15 wrote:

Mossy wrote:

and what this has proved is the correct price is somewhere in between what Google wanted (whether openly stated $$ or dropping of Android lawsuits) and what Apple paid (whether licensing, programmers or feet on the ground) for their alternative database.

Thanks for the speculation. I can do that too.

Google is building a phone OS monopoly (68% worldwide marketshare). Google does not need to give anyone the turn by turn feature using Google Maps. It will remain an exclusive on Android.

You've totally mistook the meaning -- try not to take every reply as a fight against whatever position you took. Nobody cares who provides the map data. People just want good map results. Did Apple spend $X to build iOS6 maps? They most assuredly spent something. Are there lots of complaints? Yes. If they had spent $X + $Y instead, would there have been fewer problems? Probably since according to rumours, they are aggressively hiring map experts now to address problems. And that was my point ... the "correct" price to get Google map data EQUIVALENT is more than what Apple did spend before roll-out. If they had spent the right amount (or more), every review would have compared before/after maps and said "wow, great job by Apple!"

Google is building a phone OS monopoly (68% worldwide marketshare). Google does not need to give anyone the turn by turn feature using Google Maps. It will remain an exclusive on Android.

It is their right to do so, so long as they are not abusing their quasi-monopoly.

If Google builds a Google Maps app for iOS with turn-by-turn directions, it is then no longer an Android-exclusive feature. I don't expect Google to produce a navigation app for iOS. It's one of Android's Crown Jewels.

In the meantime, Apple will be improving iOS Maps and contributing to OpenStreetMaps. This is a logical response from Apple, based on the publicly available terms and limitations imposed by Google on the Google Maps API.

I wonder how many millions of dollars in income Google just gave up, simply by Apple dropping use of Google's API.

This is another interesting point. I wonder if Google will ever be able to make up for that lost income, because I doubt enough people will move to Android as they get frustrated over Apple's maps. And that's assuming the people leaving Apple wouldn't go to Windows Phone!

Seems like Google wanted to have the upper hand by holding back features from iOS and didn't really consider the consequences.

I still don't know why the outrage on the maps apps. I would just buy a GPS app and get it over with. Heck if I'm a serious navigational nut, I'd go ahead and buy a separate GPS/maps device to save battery on my phone. Maybe I'm just insane. I only use GPS apps while driving, it gives me a ridiculous amount of options and filtering that I don't get with any maps app.